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L.E.D. Bulb?

10-21-2007, 09:48 PM

There was a thread recently having to do with converting a 18 volt flashlight to use a L.E.D. bulb, equal or greater light, several times the run time and just about never having to replace the bulb. Does anyone know if there is a manufacturer such as Terralux who is making a replacement LED to fit our 18 volt flashlights?

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Thanks for the info, I just ordered two of these items from "batteryjunction.com". They are item TS-18, $8.99 and if you mention coupon code "thankyou2007" they will include a discount. I should have these 21 LED upgrades in a couple of days and will post the results. The folks at batterry junction were very helpful and I have purchased other items from them in the past. If these work as advertised I am looking at a 30 hour run time and never having to change bulbs again!

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you down here in florida when the hurricanes hit is when those would be worth there weight in gold because you could be with out power for 2 weeks or longer, so those would be very helpful at night. heck 30 hours would be about 5-7 nights

9/11/01, never forget.

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I've got a feeling it's gonna work out as advertised. I did a Terralux upgrade on my Mini Maglite AA flashlight and man what a difference. I bought the 3Watt LED bulb for my 3 D Cell MagLite and I left it on for 24 hours, finally shut it off as it was getting a little dim. These LED's are amazing, the newer ones give very powerful light and all around great battery life. I live in New England and we have our power failures too, not as serious as Florida, but still I don't want to be left in the dark. I also like the idea of never having to buy and change those bulbs, not exactly cheap and sometimes hard to find.
Hope I will have good news to report.

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I know this is getting off track, but I hope it may help someone out some. I hope the LED conversion for the Ridgid work lights does work out.

People that live in areas prone to long power failures would do well to purchase a good quantity of good alkaline D cells, keep them in a cool dry place that's easy to get to, and also may want to buy a couple of fluorescent camping lanterns. While they won't run for all that long on one set of D cells, they are very handy and provide pretty good light. They are far safer than fuel burning lanterns. I'm sure some models may have an LED night light feature that should run a good long time on one set of D cells. The problem with any rechargable lighting is that without power you won't be able to charge it up again unless you have a vehicle charger for it.

I'll add that I tried the Maglite brand 3 Watt LED in a 2 D Maglite flashlight and it is impressive. Now I get a bright almost blue-white light. I have yet to try to find out how long it will run on fresh D cells. I have a feeling the super alkaline cells like the Energizer E2 or Duracell Ultra would really show their worth in this application. There are some real junkers (LED conversion kits) out there so be sure to watch brands. Streamlight has some interesting LED flashlights.

As for LEDs lasting I have seen some LED exit signs that have been in use 24/7/365 that are now about 4 years old and they look the same as when new. No service other than a little dusting now and then. That's over 35,000 hours. Please do keep in mind that these are made for long life and each LED isn't very bright, but it shows they have a nice long run time.

This may be loads of hype, but if it's at all correct this should be great during a long power failure. I haven't seen or tried it so I have no way of knowing if it works as claimed to. It may be loads of BS just to make sales. This would be quite the lantern if it is any good.http://shop.sportsmansguide.com/net/...1&kwtid=238088

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I believe the LED bulb life to be extrodinary but 400 hrs on one set of D's, I don't think so. I've been buying some different LED flashlights over the past year or so and while I am very impressed with their light output and run time, they do not live up to their advertised run time. My 4 AA Streamlight claims 70hrs but if you get 8 you're lucky and the fall off in brightness is drastic. I'm still very impressed by that LED MagLite. I trust that the Terralux LED unit will be well made but 21 LED's probably will not be nearly as bright as the newer Luxeon LED's which are single lighting elements, not clusters. I will give the flashlight a good run when I get the LED upgrade, but I'll have to be careful not to run the nicad down too much. I want to get a good idea of what this thing can do without damaging my battery, maybe I'll run it a few hours at a time and check the voltage in between?

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I have two of the Coast brand LED lights from Lowe's and they are great. HD has begun to carry them also. I took a small goose-neck LED light and mounted it on the plunge base of one of my routers. The "flat" light is very helpful in seeing the bit.

Ern

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I saw the Coast LED's at Home Depot and they looked well made. If you are interested in much more light(lumens) at a great price, check out some of the flashlights at that site I mentioned "BatteryJunction.com". I got something an "OLIGHT T-20" 160 lumens, four levels of brightness and several modes such as strobe and SOS. Runs on two 123A batteries, but I bought rechargeables to save money. There are some great gadgets out there.

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I received my LED upgrades today and I have good news and bad. Good news, the unit fit my Ryobi Tool light just fine the light output is decent and I've had it running now for two hours with no sing of it getting dim. Bad news, my Ridgid Tool light is designed for adjustable focus and does not allow for this LED unit in any way shape or form. Do not buy this for your Ridgid Tool light, however if you have a fixed focus light I would recommend giving it a try. On a brighter note, I exchanged e-mails with another LED manufacturer/supplier who seemed interested in my idea of a single Luxeon LED conversion for these flashlights. Maybe in the near future either Ridgid will offer a new LED Tool light or an after market product which fits will be available.

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Wayne, you were smart to pass. I live in the same state, CT so shipping was not a problem. I'm disappointed but there will be options, I'm sure. I am pleased with how the TS-18 performs in my Ryobi, light is not blazing but for a worklight it's fine and the run time is many times greater than before.

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LED's only throw it in front, hence the 150 LED's in that bulb. I'm not sure on why but they only go so far then, less ambient light maybe. LED's are essentially a bunch of tiny spotlights, there is falloff between the cones so less lumens...

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I've written to a couple of the LED manufacturers and requested a single LED upgrade for these worklights. I recently purchased a flashlight by "Olight" the T-20 model. It produces over 200 lumens from a single "Cree" LED and the brightness and throw is amazing. This is the kind of technology we need for our worklights, not the old cluster of LEDs.